Melanie Pinola

One of the ways to gauge your effectiveness as a leader is by looking at the kinds of questions you get from your teammates. Among the top questions author and speaker Terry Starbucker says reflect good leadership or management are ones where your teammates feel comfortable enough to admit weaknesses or mistakes.

Hearing "I don't know, but I'll find out" and "I made a mistake" from your team, Starbucker writes, shows that they trust you won't be unreasonably hard on them (and it also indicates you've recruited good team members who take ownership of their work). Another good piece of verbal feedback is being pitched even crazy ideas; it means that your teammates "haven't stopped dreaming, and feel that no idea is too wild or stupid."

If you're a leader or manager and aren't hearing these kinds of things when warranted, it might be time to strive towards creating the kind of atmosphere that supports these kinds of responses. What are your top things you think great leaders should hear? Photo by poptech.